


Harmonize

by Obstinacies



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon-Typical Violence, I don't know it., If that has a specific name, Just Some In-Love Junkers, M/M, My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Swearing, Where the Soulmates Feel the Same Emotions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-04 11:47:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11554569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obstinacies/pseuds/Obstinacies
Summary: Mako never believed the stories his mother told him.Mostly because he only felt his own emotions.





	1. Auburn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This AU was created on the thought for a roleplay: "Soulmates can feel each other’s emotions". Instead of the roleplay, I asked my friend if I could write a fic based off of it. He was kind enough to say yes, and I'm thankful since he wrote most of the intro here.  
> Hopefully, I'll find enough time to write this one out before I lose interest. (I really hope so).

Mako's mother always liked to tell him stories. One of the stories was the tale of the blue man and the red woman.

In France, there was a blue man who would play music by the street. For many years, he had no complications. No stress for anything, not even a payment due. Life seemed blissful for him. But soon enough, he found himself troubled. While he played his instruments, he felt a variety of feelings at odd and random times. He went to many doctors, asked many peers and family members for advice, but there was never a clear answer. Never a solution.

One day, a red woman walked by him, while the blue man was playing an instrument. She stopped to listen to him, smiling as wide as she could. The blue man reported at that very moment, he felt peace and admiration. It wasn't too odd, but it caused him to stop his activities. He stared at her, pausing for a moment before he felt a twinge of nervousness. The red woman was nervous. One's emotions seemed to affect the other person, no matter what was felt. 

Some people could understand that story, and would tell Mako that one day he'd find his own red woman, but as he began to get older and into his twenties and thirties, he never felt a thing. Only his own emotions.

He then just assumed it was just a tall tale ㅡ like Robin Hood or Three Blind Mice. Something to make him sleep at night, or to make him shut up. Just to have an answer. She was like that ㅡ anything for some peace and quiet. It was rare to have peace like that, even before the Omnic Crisis. He took after his own mother in that way, too, he guessed. He'd always had a harder time focusing with loud noises going on in the background. Especially if they were random or differentiated. He could handle them, but noises were easier to deal with if it was constant, like a motor running or a fan blowing. 

When he turned about thirty-two, he started to believe the stories. He would feel unexplained glee or sadness, sometimes even immense terror. It became rough to deal with at times, and he took to doing whatever he had to in order to deal with it. He stole from so many people, injured and even took lives in order to get medications and answers. When the answers never came, he tried to make his own. Could be genetics, could be depression, could be radiation, old age. But everyone he managed to ask always told him the same thing ㅡ "Ain't you heard a' the Soulmate Effect?" or "You're feelin' what ya soul's feelin," And he always denied it.

His denial only got stronger as his humanity left him, and the Outback turned into a cut-throat society. The once peaceful solution to his stress was now a wasteland, and he couldn't have a good rest unless he risked having his head blown off while he slept. His hands showed no mercy, and his hook became his best friend. He'd kill his way to a respectable reputation, and while Mako died off with most of the Outback, Roadhog was born and surfaced a name for himself. 

Then came the point where he didn't even care if his soulmate existed, because he had many more issues to deal with. He had people to kill, money to steal, and no time for emotions he clearly never felt anymore. There was no love or care in a world where everyone wanted you dead. So if his soulmate existed? Fine. But he wasn't going to meet them. And he wasn't going to let their idiotic emotions stop him. (Though, it still annoyed Roadhog to no end how he'd be in the middle of interrogating someone, and would feel fear. Or worse. Guilt. It wouldn't stop him, but it certainly would annoy him.)

Then one day, at a bar, he met Jamison.

And it was probably the dumbest thing he'd ever had to deal with in his life. Junkrat, as he introduced himself as, was starting to grow a name for himself, but instead of being a predator like Roadhog, he was growing a name for being prey. The little brat was being hunted down constantly.

Roadhog found himself easily annoyed by him. His voice, his body language, his whole demeanor was just hyper and explosive, and the older man would be saying an understatement if he told someone he didn't like it. It was giving him a headache, and he almost just snapped his neck then and there, but he knew in the back of his mind that everyone else in the bar would have his neck. There's no use in killing someone who has treasure if you don't get the treasure first.

There was the curiosity for that treasure, too. It could be tech, it could be gold, it could be anything in this world. Whatever it was, though, the idiot beside him had spoken and bragged and now everyone wanted it. Mako thought about how lucky he himself was. He was born a larger and stronger man. He had a high pain tolerance, and he found many resources without too much looking. He was strong, he was powerful, and he was not to be fucked with. But nothing compared to Jamison.

If there was a lucky man contest, Jamison would take first place. He found a prized possession in the deadliest area of the Outback, and survived to tell the tale. He had his own mechanisms and quirks so he could make many useful gadgets. He found the supplies for those gadgets like it was Christmas. He knew how to make bombs and he'd survived for so long, despite so many bloodthirsty people looking for his death and treasure. Junkrat, old Jamison Fawkes the annoying, was an extremely lucky man. Mako wondered if the man realized his luck was running out.

In the way-too-hot-for-him bar, near the back with two chairs beside each other and a pint of beer on the table in front of them, Mako found his answer.

"So, I was gettin' ta wonderin'," and the 'Rat's grin grew and Roadhog eyed him cautiously, "how about a proposition, eh? Ye know my treasure, everyone does by now, and mate, let'me tell ya, it's hard to keep yerself alive when every bloke wants'a piece of ya."

'Hog almost snorted at that. But the sudden nervousness he felt, whether it was from the lower tone of the other or because everyone's eyes were on them, kept that joy locked down. Yeah, Junkrat knew alright. He was probably surprised himself that he had lasted this long. Hell, Roadhog certainly was. It just didn't make sense. But then again, he only knew so much about the other man. For all he knew, his treasure was the thing keeping him alive at the moment.

It probably was.

But before Roadhog really got to any details with the proposition, Junkrat started going on about how strong the other was. How he could take down anyone with a single punch. How his hook was called the devil in some parts because it brought all of his foes to their death. Flattering, and while a good try, Mako stopped caring about what others saw in him a long time ago. He hadn't really felt anything other than joy (for killing others) and anger (for kids walking into bars and talking his ear off as if he has to listen). He didn't like talking either, but the man was extremely unfocused at the moment.

"Get to it."

"Roight. Well, I was wonderin'. If you can keep me alive, then I could pay ya! And then we could get out'a here, this hellhole, n' maybe go ta, oh I 'unno, maybe.."

Oh hell no, he was not going to deal with this all night. He had to get back to his bike if he was going to get there safely without anyone trying to follow him. He put a few coins on the table, popped the joints in his neck, and stood up while Junkrat was in the middle of a sentence, which thankfully, shut him right up.

"Oi, ye big lug! I was talkin' ta you!"

Well apparently nothing shuts Junkrat up for more than a few seconds, and Mako had to hold in the sigh that formed in him. He was getting more annoyed and angry (offended? No, he's confusing himself) by the minute. This man was underestimating his patience, and he didn't like it. Normally people would be treating him with respect, or leave him the fuck alone, but this was just insane. The smaller man was asking for his death at this point, and anyone who wanted to jump Roadhog after could just join him.

"You have nothing to offer to me." He finally said, when Jamison insisted going on to point out how he could really pay him and it would be nice to feel protection for once. Yeah, yeah, you can't guilt trip someone who killed a woman and then left her baby to die. (He had killed the father and the mother insisted that she needed revenge, and then he really couldn't do anything with the baby so while Mako hoped a caring person would find them, Roadhog couldn't care less). 

"I do! I've got plenty ta offer!" Sure, he did. Probably tons of scrap that he used to make his items with. Sure, some of that could be useful, but Mako didn't care, nor did he know what to do with it. It wasn't like he had a gun that needed scrap for ammo or anything. Just him, his machete, and his hook.

"I don't want your scrap." He gripped his hook. He was about to throw it and rip his fucking spin-

"Oh yeah? Well, ye big ol' one man apocalypse assfuck, what about half me bloody treasure, hm?"

Now that? That was interesting. Half his treasure, the one that everyone in this bar wanted, was now offered loudly to the man who could kill anything he pleased. And Junkrat must have realized that he was interested, because he saw his grin grow into something sinister. Oh that, that was certainly new, and it was very well welcomed.

"The point?"

Jamison stood up a little taller, and Roadhog felt a bit of pride and confidence burst through himself. "Be my bodyguard, and I pay ya half me treasure, and half of any spoils we get after. That way, it's the only fair thing in the Outback! Haha!" Kudos for the joke, but it wasn't at all funny. He actually really didn't want to, though. That seemed like a pain to do. Bodyguarding the most annoying person he'd ever met seemed like a hell he didn't want to go through.

"What's the treasure?" He found himself asking. He wasn't going to sit there and deal with this every day if he didn't know what he was getting paid by the end of them. He found the other's eyebrows raising, and then as a series of giggles left him, he motioned for Mako to get closer. When the treasure was whispered to him, Roadhog found a smirk to his face, almost as sinister as his new business partner's smile. It wasn't like anyone could see it, though. Not with his mask in the way.

"All I do is keep you breathin', and I get all'a that?"

The two men were in the middle of a bar, both feeling as if they had the other in a trap. If it didn't work, he could always kill him. If it didn't work, he could always steal all his treasure, once he found out the location of it. If it didn't work, he could always..

"Roight. Do we got us a deal?" His hand extended to seal the proposition with a shake.

His name was Mako Rutledge a while back. And Mako would never make a deal with another person who caused headaches so easily, not when there was the quiet world he lived in. But Mako was dead, and his name was a facade to the person he was today. A greedy, wrathful motherfucker who always got what he wanted. Roadhog. He took a while to reply to the man, but with a small ping of nervousness creeping up, he shook his hand. And when all of his nervousness went away, he didn't bother questioning it. 

Soulmates were nothing in the Outback. No one gave a shit for them. But Roadhog swore that if his soulmate were to try to kill Junkrat, he'd kill his soulmate.

And he wouldn't dare question how every burst fit with how Jamison acted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you enjoyed! If you find any mistakes, please let me know!  
> I enjoy writing, especially things I'm passionate about, even if I get extremely busy easily. I'd been thinking about this for about four months? Making a fic on here. After reading so many you get a general idea of your own opinions on things. I've seen so many, some beautifully well written and others on a more different side, but for the major part of this tag, I've enjoyed a great number of fics.  
> It feels great to finally be a part of it.


	2. Indigo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamison is far from weak, Mako realizes.  
> He's been through too much for that title.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to write this and update it a few days from now but then I thought of an idea for this chapter. So call me capricious but I'm gettin' it done today. I hope you enjoy!

Two days in, and Mako has learned a lot.

The first thing he learned about Jamison was how obvious it was that the radiation affected him. Junkrat acted odd, more than most Junkers, and it was a surprise. It shouldn't have been, but it was. Mako thought (knew) that it was partially his fault that the other man acted that way, twitching and always seemingly panicking at simple sounds, but he always quickly dismissed it. Guilt didn't do well when you had to constantly fight for your life. Jamie would also set up traps everywhere. Once, he insisted setting one on Roadhogs bike, but the moment Mako saw a bomb he demanded it be set somewhere else. Sure, he didn't want it stolen, but he definitely didn't want his only form of transportation to be blown to pieces, either.

The second thing he learned was that he really liked to tell jokes. Most of them were cheesy. Simple things you'd normally hear bar from bar, and things Mako definitely heard in his over forty years of life. Puns, and even at times dark humor. The dark humor was a twist, and Roadhog even rose a brow when he first heard it. It wasn't expected at first, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Mostly because the world he lived in was something out of a nightmare. 

Then there was the time they actually went by a Junker making an omnic. It was rare, but it wasn't out of place, since it was a last-minute weapon for some, but that didn't stop Junkrat's curiosity. "Why'd ye make her, if ye know omnics can malfunction and go against their owners?" He said, and Mako cleared his throat to try to keep him on track. He should have known better, but he didn't. The junker tried to defend herself, but Jamie interuppted her.

"What if she malfunctions? What if she starts targetin' man?" And then the girl said that she would destroy it then, and he should learn to trust some omnics. Roadhog almost laughed at that. He himself wouldn't trust a damn bot, even if it was his last way of staying alive. He had a feeling Junkrat was the same, and when his "boss" laughed, he knew he was right.

"It's really hard for me to let it go, yeah? 'Specially with that gun on the scrapheap." She didn't take too kindly to having her work insulted, and even tried to threaten him. Brought up who he was, said she thought his treasure was worthless, went on and on and on and on.

She's dead now.

Finally, he learned that there was most certainly a link between emotions and Jamison's bursts, and that struck a nerve in Roadhog. He never wanted to admit it, but it was extremely uncanny how every time the smaller man got angry, he felt a burst of anger flow through him. Every time he was excited, Mako felt like he was on top of the world. Whenever Jamison obviously felt something, it never lacked it's presence in Roadhog. It was becoming very evident that in this case, in the story he knew, Mako was most likely the blue man, and Jamison was the red girl. So when Jamie said nothing to him, while grateful, he was confused.

But he never said anything about it. He never brought it to Jamie's attention, never tried to get explanations out of him. For the most part, he was just trying to get the idiot to a safer area and keep him alive. When they camped out that night, he stayed silent as the scrawny man set traps around their sleeping areas. The larger man watched behind his lenses, thinking long and hard about the situation. What if..

What if Junkrat didn't know about the story?

If he didn't, and that was hypothetical, then the man he thought was in his mid-thirties was then apparently much younger. When the omnium blew, and a new world for him started. All of the soulmate business went with the omnium, and people cared more about survival. So if he truly didn't know anything about it, he had to have been born and raised around Junkers. In that case, he'd let it rest forever then. 

So that night, with the sky clear, and no sign of rain coming anytime soon (thank god, because he didn't want to have to race his way to a roof over their head), they settled with a peaceful semi-silence. Oh yeah, it wasn't something Mako learned, it was known, but Junkrat could not keep his mouth shut. The conversations were mostly one-sided, sure, and Roadhog didn't listen half the time, you got him there (it was way too annoying to try to keep up with him, anyway), but that didn't stop Junkrat from talking. That left Mako with his current situation.

Settled, as they were, with no worries so far, the one-man apocalypse had enough for the day. He needed to shut up, anyway, so he could pretend to sleep for half their night and listen out for Junkers trying to actually challenge the duo. That was their system. Sleep in 4-hour naps twice a day for actual sleep. And it was Junkrat's turn for that sleep, but he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"So, it gets harsh, ye know? Me arm feels like it's there, when it ain't, and then this pain-"

"Shut up. Get some sleep."

And that was the end of that.

But Junkrat didn't feel like it was, apparently. Despite the fact he turned away from the larger man, sighing as he settled for sleep, his eyes never shut. He never stopped twitching, and Mako knew then he probably wasn't ever going to sleep. A deep groan left him, and he shifted his head to look at the younger man. He wouldn't usually bother, but the thing was, he needed to sleep. He needed to stay focus. And even though it had been two days so far, he hadn't had complications with this system yet. So what was the problem?

He closed his eyes and tried to focus on feeling. Frustration, the kind you'd have if you were in pain. What else? He couldn't recognize the second emotion bursting through him. What was the problem? Was it really his arm? He was half focused when he heard that sentence, how harsh can phantom pains really be? Lots of Junkers lose their limbs all the time, and they wouldn't whine like that if they had the chance for a safe sleep. Weak, Mako realizes, Junkrat's weak.

"You really need to sleep." He lets out, tired of this childishness. And a few minutes pass, but he never gets a reply. "Stop that." And a few more minutes pass. No reply. "Jamison, get some fucking-"

"Lose a limb and tell me that again." 

Anger courses through Mako, and once the shock fades, he realizes the tone to be a threat. Oh, no. A kid will not underestimate him. He is not to be fucked with, and Roadhog's been giving him chance after chance again to fix that sorry little attitude of his, but he keeps giving him threats and threats again. No, he won't keep this up. 

"Threaten me again, and you'll lose another." 

Junkrat made a noise at that, changed his position. A bit of a shuffling went on and when he opened his eyes, bright amber eyes are locked onto his, through the mask. Mako doesn't make a sound, doesn't move a muscle. He watches over Jamison's face, watches his eyes light like fire and his normal grin turn into a scowl. It speaks to him, the emotional bursts and the way his face moves, as if Mako has no room to talk. And he probably doesn't.

But Mako's been through worse. He has scars all over his face and body to prove it. So some kid with a missing arm can't tell him shit, whether it's powerful or not. And then he notices his cheeks are wet, and ah fuck, the proof is really there. He's weak. He's so, so weak.

"Grow up." He says aloud, and Junkrat's face switches again.

"Grow up?" He starts, and call Mako a genius in a strong sarcastic tone, because he really doesn't want to listen to some lecture, but he let his mouth talk for him. "Oh, well why don't I go play with some fuckin' kids toys that I never had, because me mum died n' I ran out of food ta eat? Why don't I just go play tag with some other blokes me age, if they won't cut me other arm off n' steal all me shit? I don't know, ye inconsiderate assfuck, how about I grow up, so I can ignore a pain so fuckin' bad that it feels like they cut me arm off a second time!" 

Mako groans, and sits up, rubbing his face over his mask and turning to Junkrat fully, who sits up in return. The bigger man cracks his knuckles in a threatening manner, to get the other to sit down and remember who the fuck he's talking to, but it does nothing. He hates words, but if that's the only way the message will get through the dense fuck, he will use them.

"Everyone here is in pain. Quit that shit or I'll leave you."

It doesn't seem to phase Junkrat one bit. The ping of anger and fear that courses through him tells him otherwise. 

"Go ahead and do it, ya fat fuck, leave me!"

He's tempted to, but he doesn't. He knows the second he leaves Junkrat will once again be left to defend himself, and then at that point he'f probably have to defend himself from the biggest and strongest man he ever met. He stays in place, and keeps his tone firm. What comes out of him doesn't sound firm. It sounds sad, and guilty, and ashamed, when he really doesn't feel any of those things.

"Get some rest, Jamie."

The younger man lets in a breath, stares at him for a minute or two, and then lets out a sigh. He messages his stump, and eventually with time, and patience that Mako swears he has too much of, Junkrat lays down and falls asleep.

And Roadhog thinks again. He tries to pinpoint everything he said, memorize what he learned of him. His mother died. Knowing how bad his focus and memory seems so far, he probably doesn't remember how or when, he just knows what happened. Maybe, he isn't sure. Junkrat's memory sticks with odd things, after all (he remembered something was blue, a name of a guy they barely talked too, and the breed of the stray dog they found, but couldn't remember Mako's rules or what they had to eat last night). 

He's been through a lot, he concludes, and it shouldn't stick with Roadhog like it does. It shouldn't help the older man realize that he probably isn't weak, he's just emotional. Junkers don't take emotion well. Care can get you killed. Trust usually comes with betrayal. But so far, he hasn't felt care or trust or anything of that matter from Jamie. Just fear, and joy, and excitement, and sinister shit, and nothing far off from a Junker. 

Junkrat is not weak.

That's the conclusion that he never really wanted to come to. He really didn't want to take a moment and realize the most annoying man on the planet was actually stronger, just not by a Junker's terms. What he thought of as weak was just a man trying to deal with so much, and actually handling it better than most. Because in reality, if a grown man from the civilized world came into Junkertown unprepared, they'd be slaughtered in hours of arriving. It was probably the luckiest thing that Junkrat was still even alive, really, but at this point, it was probably also skill. 

Skill was important in Junkertown, you needed to know how to navigate, how to travel, how to get food and water. Together, him and Junkrat could really make their way to the top. As long as the younger was smart about his decisions and stopped trying to threat the older man. Yeah, then that'd be a real nice thought. The sky was fairly clear, and it wasn't hard to tell time that night. He'd have about two hours left before he'd have to wake up Jamison and get his own rest. A tired hog on the road was never good.

Even when he checked his weapons, his mind never stopped. He kept thinking of the strengths and weaknesses of his new business partner. He'd have to be smart, if he wanted to get this treasure and then head on with his life. And the first thing he'd have to gain is probably the hardest thing to gain: Trust. But that was going to be difficult, he already knew that much, because emotions can get in the way. Mako didn't feel much anymore, but Junkrat clearly did, and he was going to have to try to use that to his advantage.

Tomorrow, he knew, he had a big day ahead of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly this may seem jumbled I don't know but just wait until I make a fic where I'm in Jamison's point of view because that's when it's gonna get crazy.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! I really felt a rush writing this, and don't worry, the plan and plot are coming soon. I have ideas, and honestly I have no clue if any or all of them will come into the fic but one can only hope.


End file.
